History AlternativeCharacterInterpretation / Naruto

* Rin Nohara. She watched over Obito after her death and accepted him in spite of everything he'd done...but was it because she [[JustFriends really did care for him only as a friend]], or as something more and [[LoveEpiphany only realized it after her death]]? Were her feelings for Kakashi real love, or just a childish crush in the vein of Sakura in Part I pre-CharacterDevelopment? Was she [[LoveTriangle a preteen girl who had feelings for two different boys for different reasons]]? [[https://madara-fate.tumblr.com/post/175148974555/have-you-ever-done-a-character-analysis-on This meta]] suggests her feelings for Kakashi, at least, were genuine.

** Or...here's another crazy idea: Is Naruto simply a person with an enduring sense of fairness, honesty, and empathy that make it impossible for him to live knowing that injustice, nihilism, and self-serving agendas reign supreme throughout the ninja world? Is he actually someone in a very unique position where he has the conviction and enduring hope for the betterment of the world in face of adversity, doubt, cynicism, and outright sabotage? Is he a model example of the figure(s) necessary to enact dramatic change in society by being that anchor by which other people can hold onto and look to as a source of inspiration, strength, and guidance for their own self-fulfillment?

* Haruno Sakura. TheLoad whose overconfidence in her own abilities and obsession with Sasuke only makes things worse for her team on the battlefield? Or an out-of-her-depth ninja who is [[OvershadowedByAwesome ill-matched with her team]], often LockedOutOfTheLoop with a side of PoorCommunicationKills, and the only one who took her teacher's words about teamwork seriously by specializing in an area specifically meant to keep her teammates alive? For that matter, is she truly weak and unmotivated? Or is she more the logical result of Kakashi putting absolutely no effort into teaching her, in either Jutsus or information?

* Haruno Sakura. TheLoad whose overconfidence only makes things worse for her team on the battlefield? Or an out-of-her-depth ninja who is [[OvershadowedByAwesome ill-matched with her team]], often LockedOutOfTheLoop with a side of PoorCommunicationKills, and the only one who took her teacher's words about teamwork seriously by specializing in an area specifically meant to keep her teammates alive? For that matter, is she truly weak and unmotivated? Or is she more the logical result of Kakashi putting absolutely no effort into teaching her, in either Jutsus or information?

* Itachi. His motives have been questionable since his first appearance, and after certain revelations, the fandom has found a million ways to interpret his behaviour.

** Then let's add some more fuel to the fire: Is Naruto just a completely immature kid who can't take the world's reality, despite the fact he wants to be a leader to a nation, and a rather [[spoiler: unscrupulous one at that, if you consider what they are willing to do to keep themselves on top or because they're simply afraid.]] If you take all heroism and Messiah Prophecies, Naruto is just an immature brat who wants people's attention and got in a war he doesn't understand the beginning or end of it and wants to achieve peace, despite the fact such a thing would render the whole point of his life as a ninja worthless (No War = No Need for SuperSoldier Ninjas). Also, he is the weapon the village wanted: Completely Loyal, despite the fact few people like him, powerful, although not powerful or intelligent enough to turn on his masters, and has the talent for converting people to see things his way or The village's way. He does have a talent for getting people to follow what he says, no matter just how fairy tale-esque it all sounds. One could think of him as a Brainwashing Machine even!

*** [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9092514/1/Like-Me This fic]] actually brings up some good points regarding Naruto's character. Is he really the immature, hard-working, forgiving, optimistic boy we all know and love? Or is he really a devious, revenge filled prodigy who hides who he truly is from the people around him? Is he like Jiraiya or is he, in reality, like Orochimaru?

** Madara Uchiha: One of the worst villains in manga history, or a senile TykeBomb who knows nothing but clan warfare?
*** Or neither. He's self-centered but by no means the worst even in Manga/{{Naruto}}. Nothing ever goes his way and he throws a tantrum, and now he's trying to force the world to acknowledge him as the god he believes himself to be.
*** This also depends on what is being meant by saying "worst". A poorly-written character or an effectively-written antagonistic force for the protagonists?

* The Uchiha Clan. Despite few individuals being shown from the clan, most fans interpret the clan as being filled with power-hungry bastards that deserved their deaths. Curiously, Mikoto (Sasuke's Mom) is usually exempted of this (Mostly because they think she's hot and [[{{Squick}} is a popular pairing with Naruto]]), along with Itachi because of DracoInLeatherPants.

** Power-hungry bastards, or the sad end result of generations of war wiping out all the most emotionally stable members of a clan BlessedWithSuck by a powerset that combines the worst parts of PowerBornOfMadness and WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity, combined with ninja paranoia about keeping bloodline powers proprietary limiting the outbreeding that could dilute their hereditary cases of LoveMakesYouCrazy and [[LoveMakesYouEvil Evil]]?

* Itachi. His motives have been questionable since his first appearance, and after certain revelations the fandom has found a million ways to interpret his behaviour.

** Then let's add some more fuel to the fire: Is Naruto just a completely immature kid who can't take the world's reality, despite the fact he wants to be a leader to a nation, and a rather [[spoiler: unscrupulous one at that, if you consider what they are willing to do to keep themselves on top or because they're simply afraid.]] If you take all heroism and Messiah Prophecies, Naruto is just a immature brat who wants people's attention and got in a war he doesn't understand the beginning or end of it and wants to achieve peace, despite the fact such a thing would render the whole point of his life as a ninja worthless (No War = No Need for SuperSoldier Ninjas). Also, he is the weapon the village wanted: Completely Loyal, despite the fact few people like him, powerful, although not powerful or intelligent enough to turn on his masters, and has the talent for converting people to see things his way or The village's way. He does have a talent for getting people to follow what he says, no matter just how fairy tale-esque it all sounds. One could think of him as a Brainwashing Machine even!

* It's commonly seen that that Naruto had clinical depression prior to becoming a ninja (or even that he still does but hides it well) due to his loneliness growing up. He also showed signs of a lack of self-care, such as how he only didn't pay attention to his milk's expiration date, and his signature food is easy-to-cook instant ramen.

** Or he is a power-hungry magnificent bastard? Here is some doses of Fridge Horror:
*** Senju clan is silently exterminated, to the point no Konaha villager has that family name. The only one who can do that is Hokage, by sending them to suicide missions. Only Tsunade is spared, maybe because she is Hiruzen's student.
*** Every character that said "I want to be Hokage" (when Hiruzen is still alive) is killed or exiled. Let's count: Dan Kato, Nawaki Senju, Orochimaru, Uchiha Obito... Naruto is the only exception because killing him would unleash Kurama.
*** Why Hiruzen can be easily outvoted in the matter dealing with Uchiha? Because he also want Uchiha clan to be exterminated! By pretending to be passive, the chance Itachi or Sasuke kill him to get revenge will be lowed.
*** Why Naruto is so weak at the beginning of the series? Because Hiruzen purposedly neglect him. Naruto wants to be Hokage, yet Hiruzen can't kill him (as explained above) so keeping Naruto weak is second best choice.
*** Related to above, why Naruto didn't have Namikaze family name? His reason "protecting Naruto" is bullshit, everyone knows Konohamaru is his granchild and no one wants to kill the boy. The reason: He doesn't want people know Naruto is Minato's child, so no one would question him "why did you let the Fourth's son be treated so badly?"

*** Senju clan is silently exterminated, to the point no Konaha villager has that family name. The only one who can do that is Hokage, by sending them to suicide missions. Only Tsunade is spared, maybe because she's a student.
*** Every character that said "I want to be Hokage" (when Hiruzen is still alive) is killed or exiled. Let's count: Dan Kato, Nawaki Senju, Orochimaru, Uchiha Obito... Naruto is spared because killing him would unleash Kurama.

- Senju clan is silently exterminated, to the point no Konaha villager has that family name. The only one who can do that is Hokage, by sending them to suicide missions. Only Tsunade is spared, maybe because she's a student.
- Every character that said "I want to be Hokage" (when Hiruzen is still alive) is killed or exiled. Let's count: Dan Kato, Nawaki Senju, Orochimaru, Uchiha Obito... Naruto is spared because killing him would unleash Kurama.
- Why Hiruzen can be easily outvoted in the matter dealing with Uchiha? Because he also want Uchiha clan to be exterminated! By pretending to be passive, the chance Itachi or Sasuke kill him to get revenge will be lowed.
- Why Naruto is so weak at the beginning of the series? Because Hiruzen purposedly neglect him.
- Related to above, why Naruto didn't have Namikaze family name? His reason "protecting Naruto" is

* Kakashi Hatake is similar to Jiraiya. Is he a man who stayed away from Naruto to focus on Sasuke, a boy who was much like him at that age? Or is he a man with a guilt complex who abandoned his sensi's son because he secretly thinks he's responsible for the death's of all the important people in his life? Alternatively, he chooses to help Sasuke because he's in the most danger at that point (Gaara presents a danger to his life, while Orochimaru presents a danger to his integrity and moral character). Naruto was far less likely to get killed by Neji (who, at worst, considers him a loser who can be beaten easily) or go down a dark path like revenge.

* Kabuto Yakushi, although this is probably on purpose: a ChronicBackstabbingDisorder who was waiting for the chance to kill Orochimaru himself for power when Sasuke did it for him, a man who saw Orochimaru as a God, went crazy at his death and integrated his remains into his own body, or a man who joined the first person who gave him some sympathy because he had nothing left to lose?

* Jiraiya. Is he a man who stayed away for Naruto's own good while secretly helping him from behind the scenes? A lazy pervert who abandoned his own Godson to peep on naked women and only connected with him because of an accident? Or does he secretly nurse a hatred for Naruto for being the cause of his beloved student Minato's death? Yet another interpretation is as a result of viewing himself a FailureHero who only realized [[spoiler:at the end of his life]] that he actually did some good by teaching Naruto, is that he didn't believe he could adequately help Naruto.

** Was his HeelFaceTurn motivated by [[TheAtoner the guilt of all the bad things]] he had done? Or just he [[EnemyMine turned against]] [[spoiler: Madara Uchiha]] after the latter revealed that [[spoiler: he orchestrated Rin's death]] then became a KarmaHoudini when [[spoiler: he got reunited with Rin in the afterlife]]?

** Then let's add some more fuel to the fire: Is Naruto just a completely immature kid who can't take the world's reality, despite the fact he wants to be a leader to a nation, and a rather [[spoiler: unscrupulous one at that, if you consider what they are willing to do to keep themselves on top or because they're simply afraid.]] If you take all heroism and Messiah Prophecies, Naruto is just a immature brat who wants people's attention and got in a war he doesn't understand the beginning or end of it and wants to achieve peace, despite the fact such thing would render the whole point of his life as a ninja worthless (No War = No Need for SuperSoldier Ninjas). Also, he is the weapon the village wanted: Completely Loyal, despite the fact few people like him, Powerful, althought not powerful or intelligent enough to turn on his masters, and has the talent for converting people to see things his way or The village's way. He does have a talent for getting people to follow what he says, no matter just how fairy tale-esque it all sounds. One could think of him as a Brainwashing Machine even!

* Itachi. His motives have been questionable since his first appearance, and after certain revelations the fandom has found a million ways to interprete his behaviour.

* Rin Nohara. Did she really care for Obito only as a friend, or something more, which she only realized after his death? Were her feelings for Kakashi real love, or just a childish crush in the vein of Sakura in Part I pre-CharacterDevelopment? While Obito seems to insist that Rin loved Kakashi and his own feelings were unrequited, his flashbacks of her always worrying after him, her always watching over him and accepting him in spite of everything he's done and their eventual "TogetherInDeath" ending seem to imply that she had strong feelings for Obito as well. Or it could be the case that [[LoveTriangle she's a preteen girl who has feelings for two different boys for different reasons.]]

* The Leaf Village! It can be A) A Nation of strong Ninja who believe in union and Peace, B) A Power-Hungry Nazi-esque Empire who wants to control the world and everyone in it, C) A Self-Centered and Bigot Nation who has so many people wanting to kill them it's hard to even think of them as innocent, D) A Village filled with Hippie-esque delusional fools. E)Mostly good people who have difficulty accepting those who are different or who they think might be a threat. The way they act and the things they believe has shades of all these. And most fanfic writers go for B, C and D options most of time if they're going for Dark Fics or just Naruto becoming independent.
* The Uchiha Clan. Despite few individuals being shown from the clan, most fans interpret the clan as being filled with power-hungry bastards that deserved their deaths. Curiously, Mikoto(Sasuke's Mom) is usually exempted of this (Mostly because they think she's hot and [[{{Squick}} is a popular pairing with Naruto]]), along with Itachi because of DracoInLeatherPants.

* It's commonly seen that that Naruto had clinical depression prior to becoming a ninja (or even that he still does but hides it well) due to his loneliness growing up. He also showed signs of a lack of self-care, such as how he only didn't pay attention to his milk's expiration date, and his signature food is easy-to-cook instant ramen.

** Then let's add some more fuel to the fire: Is Naruto just a completely immature kid who can't take the world's reality, despite the fact he wants to be a leader to a nation, and a rather [[spoiler: unscrupulous one at that, if you consider what they are willing to do to keep themselves on top or because they're simply afraid.]] If you take all heroism and Messiah Prophecies, Naruto is just a immature brat who wants people's attention and got in a war he doesn't understand the beginning or end of it and wants to achieve peace, despite the fact such thing would render the whole point of his life as a ninja worthless(No War = No Need for SuperSoldier Ninjas). Also, he is the weapon the village wanted: Completely Loyal, despite the fact few people like him, Powerful, althought not powerful or intelligent enough to turn on his masters, and has the talent for converting people to see things his way or The village's way. He does have a talent for getting people to follow what he says, no matter just how fairy tale-esque it all sounds. One could think of him as a Brainwashing Machine even!

* Jiraiya. Is he a man who stayed away for Naruto's own good while secretly helping him from behind the scenes? A lazy pervert who abandoned his own Godson to peep on naked women and only connected with him because of an accident? Or does he secretly nurse a hatred for Naruto for being the cause of his beloved student Minato's death?
** Yet another interpretation is as a result of viewing himself a FailureHero who only realized [[spoiler:at the end of his life]] that he actually did some good by teaching Naruto, is that he didn't believe he could adequately help Naruto.
* Kakashi Hatake is similar to Jiraiya. Is he a man who stayed away from Naruto to focus on Sasuke, a boy who was much like him at that age? Or is he a man with a guilt complex who abandoned his sensi's son because he secretly thinks he's responsible for the death's of all the important people in his life?
** Alternatively, he chooses to help Sasuke because he's in the most danger at that point (Gaara presents a danger to his life, while Orochimaru presents a danger to his integrity and moral character). Naruto was far less likely to get killed by Neji (who, at worst, considers him a loser who can be beaten easily) or go down a dark path like revenge.
* [[spoiler: Obito Uchiha.]] Is his hatred against the world just a tantrum after his crush died? Or did her death make him realize how unjust a world is when people need to be sacrificed for others happiness?

* Rin Nohara. Did she really care for Obito only as a friend, or something more, which she only realized after his death? Were her feelings for Kakashi real love, or just a childish crush in the vein of Sakura in Part I pre-CharacterDevelopment? While Obito seems to insist that Rin loved Kakashi and his own feelings were unrequited, his flashbacks of her always worrying after him, her always watching over him and accepting him in spite of everything he's done and their eventual "TogetherInDeath" ending seem to imply that she had strong feelings for Obito as well. Or it could be the case that [[LoveTriangle she's a preteen girl who has feelings for two different boys for different reasons.]]

* Sasuke: Emotionally unstable teenager seeking justified revenge? Selfish traitor? Or secretly undermining the bad guys from inside?

** Is it the effort of a good friend who sees, unlike his compatriots, that Sasuke is not beyond redemption and that redeeming him is key to breaking the cycle of violence in the Narutoverse? . . . Or is it the desperate act of a deluded fool, a boy who refuses to grow up and face the fact that difficult choices are sometimes called for among ninjas, a boy whose lonely, dejected childhood has left him with an unhealthy attachment to someone who has openly threatened his home and other friends?

** Was his HeelFaceTurn motivated by [[TheAtoner the guilt of all the bad things]] he had done? Or just he [[EnemyMine turned against]] [[spoiler: Madara Uchiha]] after the latter revealed that [[spoiler: he orchestrated Rin's death]] then became a KarmaHoudini when [[spoiler: he got reunited with Rin in the afterlife]]?